Sony Analyst Expects 'Strong Software' Announcements At PlayStation 5 Event

Sony Interactive Software's SNE rescheduled event "The Future of Gaming" is Thursday, and viewers are expecting to see announcements detailing the console's lineup of games. Sony is known for its extensive line of first-party exclusive titles, and it's expected that a few top franchises will be teased at the event.

BofA Securities analysts are making their own predictions about the next-gen console. Only technical specifications and the DualSense controller have been revealed to date.  

"We expect Sony to announce strong first-party titles such as 'God of War 5,' 'Gran Turismo 7,' and 'Horizon 2,'" analyst Mikio Hirakawa said in a note.

The Sony Rating: BofA Securities maintains a Buy rating on Sony with an $80.24 price objective.

BofA Expects Investor Satisfaction: In addition to Sony's popular first-party exclusives, the company is expected to announce other third-party titles such as Activision Blizzard's ATVI "Call of Duty" and Take-Two Interactive's TTWO "NBA 2K."

"We think uncertainty about the PS5 launch will diminish as the company announces the software lineup, console price, and release date, and we expect this to have a positive impact on the share price," the analyst said. 

Revisiting The PS4: The PlayStation 4's major reveal held more straightforward details compared to Sony's decisions surrounding the PS5, Hirakawa said.

The company revealed software titles prior to E3 in 2013 in a press conference. First-party titles like "The Order" and "Killzone" were announced, along with third-party titles such as "Final Fantasy," "Assassin's Creed IV" and "NBA 2K14," he said.

In addition to a game lineup, Sony also included the PS4's price back in 2013 at $399, $100 lower than Microsoft Corporation's MSFT Xbox One.

Expect The PS5's Price Later: While Sony revealed the PS4's price beside its initial lineup of games in 2013, the BofA analyst suspects that "Sony will announce the PS5 console price separately."

Sony has already confirmed that this is the first of a series of events detailing the PlayStation 5, and it makes sense to withhold price points in order to allow potential consumers to "reflect" on the lineup, he said.

While Microsoft has revealed many of the details surrounding the Xbox Series X, it has yet to announce a price tag. 

Hirakawa estimates that "the median of market expectations for the console price is at US$499."

SNE Price Action: Sony shares were trading 2.89% higher at $70.38 at the time of publication Wednesday. 

Photo courtesy of Sony.